| Tue 7 Jun 2005, 11:05 | | Jasco upgraded to 'A' rating |
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Jasco upgraded to `A` rating
Investment holding company Jasco Electronics Holdings Limited (JSC) has been upgraded from a BBB rating to an A rating by the Empowerdex Rating Agency.
The group said that the A rating confirms its status as a black empowered entity with good broad-based black economic empowerment (BEE) contributions and positions it as one of South Africa`s leading empowerment companies.
The group is 51% black controlled, with black women controlling 10% of the company. The group`s total black representation is 72%, with black female representation at 36%.
Delegates trained as a percentage of the total workforce was 94%, with 72% being black.
The group`s affirmative procurement spend more than doubled to 30% of discretionary procurement, with about 32 million rand being sourced from BEE suppliers during the past year.
`We are extremely proud of this achievement, especially as we have been focusing strongly on transforming throughout our organisation following our BEE transaction with Community Investment Holdings (CIH) in 2003. Our efforts have resulted in the highest scores being achieved in BEE management, skills development and operational capacity, bearing testimony to the fact that we are a truly diverse organisation as measured against the broad based empowerment criteria laid down by Government,` Jasco CEO, Dr Stuart Robertson said.
Going forward, Robertson said the group would particularly focus on continuing to improve affirmative procurement and skills training, whilst also increasing expenditure on enterprise and social development.
The Non-Executive Chairperson, Dr Anna Mokgokong, said: `Last year was one of the strongest years in the South African economy and financial markets, with growth in the South African economy averaging 3.2% a year over the past four years. This is a marked improvement on South Africa`s position a decade ago, with real income per person over the past decade increasing by 15%.
`In the first nine months of 2004, disposable income of households increased at an annualised rate of 6% and the conservative level of household debt relative to disposable income enabled households to expand their spending further in a low interest rate environment.`
She added that this strong economic environment has positioned Jasco well. Real per capita income is expected to continue rising by at least 30% in the next ten years.
All three of its divisions, Telecommunications, Manufacturing and Security, are set to tap into this growth, especially from the planned expenditure of the country and the continent`s infrastructure, Mokgokong said.
Robertsron added: `In this environment, 2005 was the year of turnaround for Jasco. We have come out of a tough period of consolidation and restructuring, which has allowed us to put Jasco back on a path of profitability. Our hard work is evident in the results we posted this year - loss-makers have been turned around, cash flow significantly improved, debt eradicated and the balance sheet strengthened.
`During the turnaround over the past three years, Jasco has consistently outperformed its peers in both the electronics and small cap sectors. The success of our fierce focus on improving performance is reflected in the market capitalisation of Jasco, which has recovered more than tenfold from its low in 2001 to show a strong and growing upward trend.`
He said that the group was optimistic that it would continue to deliver improved results in the next year. - I-Net Bridge
Published on the web by Business Report on June 6, 2005.
